Sunday, February 28, 2010

Finally Some Sun!

Headed over to the Woodmen Park-n-Ride to start a run on the Santa Fe Trail. Seems our little bonus snow on Friday really upped the ante on our mud/ice scenario on our regular trails, so we figured we would try to at least bag some miles on the more open terrain that SF has to offer. Plus, at 600' or more lower than our house and some of our favorite singletrack, it got much less snow from the past 2 storms. The trains were running pretty frequently, this empty one heading back north for more coal. Pikes Peak looks great with a full blanket of snow, doesn't it?

We started out a bit cloudy with a stout headwind, however, that worked to our favor as the wind pushed the clouds off for a while and we got to run a majority of the time in SUNSHINE - oh yeah! We paid for that a bit in that we had a lot of mud, but with the crushed granite surface, most of it does not stick to the shoes. Plus, we'll take the sunny runny after some of our grayness of late. We ran north from Woodmen onto the US Air Force Academy and enjoyed some casual running today - no pace goals, nothing to worry about, just enjoy the run! Here I am enjoying the splash of sun and glad it made it feel warmer than it was.

Happy Trails indeed!

Ice is starting to melt on Monument Creek - maybe Spring will decide to get in gear.

Kathleen enjoying the wonderful rays that lift the spirit and warm the soul - almost makes running feel effortless at times!!!

Finishing up the run, crossing the footbridge over Monument Creek - little different scenery than some of our regular runs but a little flavor nonetheless from one of our regular haunts. There was nothing utterly spectacular about our run today, scenery or otherwise - unless of course you figure (as we do) that every day you get to be out and running is a great day. Life is definitely good!

Parting shot - looking back at the trail as it passes under the Mark Dabling and Woodmen interchanges, meandering along Monument Creek. We were able to enjoy 11 miles, most of it under a sunny sky which made it that much better. We're holding out hope that Old Man Winter is going to loosen the grip on us and let some Spring weather start to trickle in - plus it is two weeks from time change and longer evenings - bring on the midweek runs! Happy Trails!

11 comments:

Hi Steve and Kathleen,Yes, finally a little bit of sunshine!! I love it...it is good to see the snow starting to melt:) It is easy to be in a great running mood when the weather cooperates:) You shared some lovely pictures from your nice run!! I hope that you have a wonderful week!!

GORGEOUS skies for you two! I drove over a mountain that we climbed today and saw snow along the San Jacinto(SP?)mountains and I thought of you two...there was a lot of snow, more than I've seen in a long, long time. I can see you're enjoying your snow and clear skies:) !

We had zero sunshine yesterday and Beth and I were commenting on how it felt cold and damp, like the Midwest. As I sit here and type away, it's still cloudy but I hear Mother Nature is going to give in a little this week in Colorado and bring some temps in the 50's. I can't wait!!!! Have a great week running, your weekly reports always bring a big smile to my face!! :)

Hay, the Mohican 100 is in loudonville Oh over by Mansfield. It's a tough race hills, rock, and rivers. It runs loop form. The Burning River 100 is sweet point to point from Chagrin to Cuyahoga falls, two great local runs for us in Ohio. The Mohican I have not raced yet, the two races are so close together. This year is do or die!

About Us

We love trail running and biking in the mountains of Colorado and the desert Southwest. We enjoy spending time together, seeing new places, and meeting people who enjoy the outdoors like we do! We were thrown a little bit of a curve ball in March 2011 when Kathleen was diagnosed with Graves Disease, an auto-immune thyroid disorder. After trying to treat the disease with an anti-thyroid drug for a year and not achieving the results we had hoped for, she had radio-active iodine treatment (RAI) in February 2012 and is now in "wait and see" mode. We hope to have her back up and heading toward normal function some time during the summer of 2012 and back to true Happy Trailing. It has caused a little change of pace (slower) and a bit of a temporary life 'detour'. This is new and unexpected territory so the journey should be interesting, challenging, and hopefully still fun!
'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.'
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Graves Disease Foundation

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.-John Wesley

We will miss our sweet girl, Sage

Dec 1997 - Jun 2010

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